“Hello?” she answers on the third ring.
“Hey, Bianca. It’s Harley,” I say, going through pictures on the computer to find a picture of the cat to send her.
“Oh, hey! I’m so glad you called me back.”
I smile at her happy, excited tone. I don’t know how Foster can’t love this woman. I’m practically in love with her already. “No problem. So, I listened to your message. You’re really serious about adopting Mittens?”
“Mittens? Is that her name?”
“It is. I have a picture here if you want me to send it over. You’ll see why she’s called that.”
“Yes, please do!”
I grab my cell and snap a picture of the screen, then text it to her.
“Just got it. One sec,” she says before there’s a long pause.
She’s back moments later. “Oh my God. She’s adorable!”
I smile. She really is. She’s white with little gray mittens on her paws. She also has little gray spots above her eyes that look like eyebrows, and a gray tip on her tail. She has the bluest eyes that just sparkle.
“I’m glad you think so,” I tell her. “So, like I said before, she’s already been fixed and microchipped. She’s up to date on all her vaccines. So we’ll just need you to swing by, fill out an application, and meet with her if you’d like.”
“I’d love that! Can I come by this afternoon?”
“Absolutely! I’ll let the girls know to have her ready.”
“Okay, thanks Harley! See you later.”
“Bye, Bianca.” I hang up the phone with a smile, happy that one of my babies will soon be in her forever home.
The morning passes by quickly with all the emails I have to return and all the phone calls I have to make regarding our next adoption fundraiser. We’ll be taking a lot of our animals out to the park to try to find some loving parents for them. It’s hard getting people in here to see the animals, so it’s always a good idea to take the animals to them. Once they see those cute little fuzzy faces, their hearts open up and it’s hard to say no to something so cute.
I’m surprised by how late it is when there’s a knock on my door and Bianca walks in.
I stand up. “Hey! I didn’t realize it was so late,” I say, moving in for a quick hug.
“Staying busy in here, huh?” she asks, putting her purse down in the chair.
“We have an event coming up and there’s still so much to do. But come on, I’ll introduce you to Mittens.” I open the door to my office and lead her down the hallway and out the back door. We follow the dirt path to another building, and I open the door and let her in.
“Wow, this is a big place,” she says, looking around the pole barn that holds all the cats.
“It is,” I agree, leading her past the seating area and into the back where the animals are kept. I walk through rows and rows of kittens and full-grown cats before I finally find Mittens. She’s lying in a ball, fast asleep. I open her cage and pick her up, carrying her into a viewing room. In the room, there are places to sit, cat toys, ramps, and scratching posts. Each cat gets their turn in the room for playtime and exercise, but we also bring them in here to meet with people looking to adopt. I set Mittens on the table and Bianca sits in the chair.
I watch as she reaches out and pets her. Mittens arches her back so Bianca’s hand travels the length of her body.
“She’s so sweet.”
I nod. “She’s very sweet and gentle. But like I said, she likes attention on her terms, so don’t be worried if she runs from you from time to time.”
Mittens allows Bianca to pet her for a few more minutes, then she jumps off the table and runs over to the scratching post. She climbs to the top of the fake tree, sits on one of the fake limbs, then starts cleaning herself.
“How long has she been here?”
“Almost a year, I think,” I answer. “A lot of people want kittens. And if they adopt a full-grown cat, they usually pick one of the younger ones who’s more playful. Mittens here was found in an alley, living under a dumpster. She’s older, but still has plenty of life left in her. She doesn’t play much—not like the younger ones do, anyway, because she grew up alone and didn’t know what it was to play. She likes the feathers though,” I say, grabbing the stick that has bells and feathers attached to the end. I lift it up and dangle the feathers in front of her and she goes crazy, swatting at it. Bianca laughs at Mittens’ playfulness and it surprises me that she’s behaving so well. Maybe she understands what’s going on here and wants to be adopted.
After I stop with the feathers, I hand the stick to Bianca and she teases the cat back down from the tree and over to the sofa, where she sits down. The cat jumps up and crawls into her lap, chewing on the stick while Bianca pets her.
“I love her already,” she says, and it makes my heart flutter.
“Good. We’ll just need you to fill out the application. Do you want to go back to my office and get started?”
“Sure,” she agrees, standing up with Mittens in her arms.
I lead her back to Mittens’ cage, and we put her back before heading to my office.
Once we’re there, I gather up all the paperwork she’ll need, and then give her a moment to fill everything out. When she’s done, I take the paperwork to the staff member who usually handles this part of the process, and I take Bianca’s payment of $30. The application gets approved within minutes and we’re all set.
“Congratulations!” I say, walking back into my office where she’s still sitting. “You have yourself a brand-new cat.”
She stands up, cheering.
“Just let me get everything ready for you. I’ll have them get Mittens, then I’ll walk you out.”
I gather up a small bag of cat food, kitty litter, and a box to put her in. One of the staff members retrieves Mittens for me while I put all the paperwork into a folder for Bianca. Finally, I’m helping her out to the car with the cat and all her stuff.
“Wow, I get kitty litter and food?”
“On the house,” I say. “I also threw in a kitty litter pan so you’ll have everything ready to go.”
I put the items in her trunk and she puts Mittens in the front seat.
“Thanks so much, Harley.”
“Thank you for adopting,” I say, handing her the folder. “In here, you’ll find all your information. If she gets sick or you’re worried about anything, our number is in here and our on-site vet already has all her files. Also, we always hope this isn’t the case, but if you find that things don’t work out, just bring her back and we’ll take her off your hands free of charge. We just don’t want our animals ending up back on the street or given to someone who has no right owning animals.”
“I have a feeling she’ll be with me forever, but thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Enjoy. I have a good feeling about you two.”
She goes to get into the car, but then pauses. “Hey, I don’t know if Foster has told you, but we’re having a big family cookout next week. Will you come?”
I feel surprised. Foster didn’t tell me. In fact, the last time they held a big family cookout, he’d hopped on a plane to Vegas and we ended up getting married. Is he planning on attending this cookout? And if he is, why hasn’t he said anything? This only confirms my theory that our time is almost up.
“I don’t know, Bianca . . .”
“Please? Please, Harley. I mean, you are my new best friend, right?”
I laugh. “I don’t want to intrude,” I point out, but in reality, I don’t want to be a witness to his proposal.
“I promise that if you’re there, our families will be on their best behavior and it will be nothing but fun. Please come?”
“All right,” I finally agree, thinking that maybe I can make an excuse to bow out later. Like I’ve come down with a cold. “Text me all the information.”
“Yay!” she cheers, rushing back over to hug me. “Thank you so much! You’re going to have so much fun,” she
promises.
“Yeah, yeah. Get out of here and get your cat out of that box,” I say, waving her off.
She laughs but does as I say. She climbs behind the wheel and I stand back and watch as she drives away.
After work, I meet up with Cora at Stella’s and we have dinner and a few drinks while talking about our day and her upcoming wedding.
“Have you talked to Jimmy about the wedding since I last saw you?” I ask, remembering how she told me that he wasn’t getting very involved in the planning.
“I’ve tried, but it’s like every time I bring it up, he changes the subject.”
I bite my lower lip, unsure of what to say to reassure her.
“I’m getting really worried that he’s going to call the whole thing off.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask as my brows pull together.
She shrugs. “It just feels like he’s pulling away. We used to spend every day together, but lately, he’s been putting in all these extra hours at work and I barely even get to see him. By the time he gets off work, he’s so tired that he doesn’t want to do anything but go back to his place and go to sleep.”
“Why haven’t you guys moved in together? I’ve always wondered that but didn’t ask. I didn’t want to be too intrusive and thought maybe you were waiting until after the wedding.”
She nods her head. “It was always our plan to move into our own new place after the wedding.”
“Have you picked out a place?”
“We’ve looked at a couple, but he doesn’t like any of them. They’re either too expensive, not big enough, too big, too dark, too light, too quiet, or too loud. It’s like he doesn’t even want to live with me. I feel like everything is falling apart and I don’t know how to fix it. So I just keep myself busy with planning a wedding I’m not even sure is going to happen anymore.”
I feel so bad for Cora. I don’t know what to say to make her situation any better. “You just need to sit him down and flatly ask him, ‘Do you want to marry me?’ If he says yes, then tell him that he needs to get on the ball with all this stuff.”
“And if he says no?” she asks.
“Then at least you’ll know where you stand. You won’t have to keep planning a wedding that might not happen.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I understand now why you don’t want to get married. This is too much stress.”
“I’m already married, or have you forgotten?” I ask, sticking out my tongue as a way to lighten the mood.
She giggles and it works. “I should’ve eloped,” she says, nodding her head. “We’d already be married and there wouldn’t be all this time for him to think about whether or not he’s making the wrong decision. I think that’s the problem. It’s been so long since he proposed that now it’s just like D-Day looming over his head or something. He’s freaking himself out.”
I shrug. “Then pick him up and fly to Vegas and elope! Cancel the wedding. I mean, who really needs a big, fancy wedding anyway? Foster and I don’t even remember getting married, but we are and we didn’t spend a ton of money on it.”
She laughs. “No, you’ll just spend a ton of money getting out of it.”
I frown then playfully hold up my middle finger.
I make it home around 7 p.m., and as always, the first thing I do is let the dogs out. I sit at the patio table and watch them play for a while, then we all go inside so I can prepare dinner. I can’t stop thinking about Bianca, Foster, and this upcoming family dinner. Or how Foster and I spent last night. Or that looming feeling of doom hanging over me.
As I cook, I pour a glass of wine, and by the time dinner’s done, I’ve had three glasses. I eat my salad with grilled chicken breast and have another glass of wine. Then I suddenly have liquid courage and feel the need to get some answers to the questions that are filling my head. I grab my phone and call his number.
“There’s my girl,” he says when he answers. “I was wondering when you were going to call.”
“I saw Bianca today,” I blurt out.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, she came to the shelter and adopted a cat.”
“You gave her an animal? You know she can’t even keep a plant alive, don’t you?”
“Well, no . . . but the cat reminds you to feed it and the plant doesn’t. I have high hopes,” I state.
He only laughs.
“Anyway, she invited me to a big family cookout next week. Said it was her family and yours.”
“She invited you to that?”
“She did, and I told her I’d go, but then I thought that maybe I should check with you and see if it was okay.”
“Why would you need to check with me?”
“Well, because the last time there was a family dinner planned, you hopped on a plane to Vegas, and then we ran into your dad once we were back, and you said you were ring shopping. So is this dinner meant to be the night of your big proposal?”
He takes a deep breath, then finally says, “It is.”
I have to swallow down the sob that makes its way up. “And is that something you want me there for?”
“Is it something you want to be there for?” he asks, sounding just as unsure about everything as I probably do.
No! No, I don’t want to be there for that. But I can’t say that. I want him to know I support him, no matter what he decides to do. “Does Bianca know you’re proposing?” I finally ask. I can’t believe she’d be happy about this whole thing if she knew what was really going to happen.
“She knows what our parents are wanting to happen, but I think she’s counting on me to figure a way out of it. Maybe she thought that if you were there, I’d put it off or something.”
“So, are you proposing?”
“I still haven’t decided yet or figured out how to put it off. So I’m sure the whole night will be comical, to say the least.” There’s a long pause. “What do you think I should do?”
“What do I think?” I think you shouldn’t marry her. Stay with me! “I can’t tell you what I think, Foster. This is your life and your decision.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” he asks, and it sounds like it’s more of a question for him than me.
“I gotta go,” I say, hanging up the phone and not bothering to say goodbye. The tears are no longer staying back where I want them. Now they’re rushing down my cheeks.
I call Cora immediately and she answers on the second ring. “Hello?”
“What am I going to do?” I cry out.
“Oh no. What’s wrong?”
“I love him!”
“You do? That’s great. Why are you crying?”
“Because he’s going to ask another woman to marry him next week.”
“Well, have you told him how you feel about him?”
“No! I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” She sounds confused.
“Because he already has too much on his plate. He doesn’t need me complicating things for him. I knew what we were. I knew we couldn’t last, and I fucked up and fell in love with him anyway. I can’t make this harder on him.”
“Harley, you have to tell him! What if he loves you too? What if he’s only going to marry her because he thinks you don’t love him?”
I can’t respond. All I can do is cry.
Fourteen
Foster
After Harley hangs up on me, I don’t call her back. I’m sure she could use a moment to process all of this new information. So instead, I call Bianca.
“Hey, Foster,” she answers.
“You invited Harley to the dinner next week?”
“Yep, why?” she asks, acting like nothing’s wrong.
“Do you really think she wants to see that?”
“Well, I was hoping you’d figured a way out of it. Have you?”
“No!” I yell, getting up to pace back and forth.
“Why not? Time is ticking away, Foster!” she nearly yells back. In the background, I hear
a cat meow.
“Did you feed and water your cat?” I ask.
“Of course I did. I’m not stupid,” she says.
“Well, you haven’t been able to keep a plant alive since I’ve known you,” I point out.
“Uh, plants are boring. The cat is cute. Anyway, back to the task at hand. Do you love her?”
I fall onto the couch and nod my head. “Yes,” I finally admit.
“Good, then stay married to her.”
“What am I supposed to do next week then?”
“Tell them the truth! Put an end to this shit once and for all.”
I sit back and rest my head against the couch, thinking everything over. “Bianca, want to go ring shopping with me?”
The week passes by quickly and I haven’t seen Harley since the last night we spent together, and we haven’t spoken since she hung up on me. I’ve called but she hasn’t answered or called me back. My only guess is that she’s convinced I’m going to propose to Bianca, and that the sooner she cuts me off, the better. But it’s finally the day of the big family dinner and Bianca is picking up Harley to make sure she comes. There’s no way Bianca is letting Harley off the hook this time. Not when so much is at stake.
It’s Friday, and when I get off work, I go straight home to shower and get changed for the dinner party at her parents’ house. It’s a cookout, but it’s not your typical cookout. Their live-in chef will be grilling the food outside while the rest of us sit at the patio table that’s nicer than most people’s dining room tables. The maid will bring us drinks and appetizers before dinner is served, and then I’m sure that’ll be followed by dessert and coffee. If this is like most of their dinners, there will be cigars and brandy as a nightcap. It’s not the kind of cookout where there’s a cooler full of beer sitting in the grass. This is a formal dinner just like any other night.
I dress in a suit and roll my eyes as I tighten my tie that I shouldn’t have to put on until I’m back at work. Then I grab the black box from my dresser and open it to see the diamond ring inside. I slide it into my pocket and head for the door. I get into my Ferrari and drive across the city to the suburbs where Bianca’s parents’ lavish mansion is located inside brick walls and a tall iron gate.
My Accidental Forever (Love You Forever Book 5) Page 15